Local film "Starts Friday" starts Thursday at The Times

When Kenosha-area filmmaker Ben Lewandowski started working on his film "Starts Friday" in 1999, he had no idea it would become a decade-long project.

The feature length movie -- shot with amateur Milwaukee actors on the East Side -- makes its Milwaukee debut on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. at The Times Cinema.

The film is based on Lewandowski's experiences working in movie theaters in his teens and 20s, he says, and it's a tribute to that stage of his life.

"'Starts Friday' was originally written in 1999 and then expanded in 2001 for the first season of HBO's Project Greenlight," recalls Lewandowski. "After failing to be accepted to this Internet contest, my wife, Lindsey Becker -- who also wrote and produced the film -- encouraged me to make the film on my own."

The film is a dramatic comedy -- told in quick little scenes -- that follows stoner pals Jimmy Quinn and Jerzy Dillon for five days. Jerzy wants to rekindle the flames of passion with his ex-girlfriend who is soon to be married. Meanwhile, Jimmy actually does get back together with his ex-girlfriend and now the two friends risk going their separate ways.

Anyone familiar with Milwaukee's East Side will recognize many landmarks in the film, from Brady Street and Oakland Avenue, to Downer Avenue (pre-parking structure) and Lincoln Memorial Drive.

None of the principle actors in the picture -- Dash Lee, Andy Fonz, Katherine Taylor and Bobbie Jo Westphal -- arrived with any film experience, Lewandowski notes.

"In spring 2001, we began casting for the film and brought on a few actors that had stage experience, but no formal film work," says Lewandowski. "Having been a film school graduate, I had many years of film set experience and was well versed at working with actors. However, one of my primary actors, Andy Fonz, had absolutely no acting experience. After doing some simple location scouting, rehearsing and assembling a makeshift crew, we began filming on June 22, 2001.

"We shot the film in 22 days, spread out throughout that summer and wrapped principal photography on Aug. 29. Our film crew consisted of myself, my wife, my brother-in-law Ian Miles Becker, our actors, and others from my East Side apartment building."

Because, like most independent films, Lewandowski was working on a tight budget, he found himself doing more than he had planned to do.

"I served as the film's director, cinematographer, production designer, co-writer, producer and un-credited co-editor," he says. "It was not my intention to work in all of these roles, but because of my experience and our tight time schedule, we had little choice."

And, as can also happen, life got in the way of art, setting the project's timetable back again and again.

"After the events on Sept. 11, 2001, editing was delayed until early 2002, and was then pushed back again until fall 2002 while I waited for a semi-professional graduate student from my alma mater, Columbia College-Chicago, to be assigned the project -- this was done to take advantage of my school's multi-million dollar editing labs. However, this collaboration never materialized," says Lewandowski.

"In 2002 I married, and a year later I changed jobs and moved out of Milwaukee. In 2004, my son was born and I abandoned the project until fall 2008 when my longtime friend Dusko Babin (who is the film's editor and actor in it, too) came aboard and we edited the film together using Premiere in his makeshift editing suite in Mt. Prospect, Ill."

At this point, Lewandowski says, the film changed "dramatically." That is in part due to the music that is laced throughout the film, giving it some nice depth and power. That music wouldn't be there if the film had been completed on schedule, he notes.

"Because of the gap between shooting the film and cutting it, we were able to find the music of a truly gifted musician from Kenosha named Jeff Scott Townsend. Coincidentally, he was laid off from the Chrysler engine plant in Kenosha while we were cutting the film.

"One afternoon, I asked my brother-in-law to send me some bridge music, and he informed me that one of his friends was working on some new music. One conversation led to another and I began to work Jeff's music in the film -- it was a harmonious relationship of sound and image. We did some re-shooting in early 2009 and low and behold we are here."